Sudden increase in data usage

Sudden increase in data usage

Over the past 3 days my 3GB of data has been used up. It appears as if bursts of data are being used all at once. One was for amost a full GB. The people I've talked to in two different ATT stores appear to be at a loss for what's happening. Last person I talked with just turned off my internet access and said to open it back up on November 20th when my plan starts over again. Does any one have the right solution??

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

I have turned off every service running. I have deleted apps and I manually force stopped them. I am hoping that when I check my usage tomorrow that by turing off the icloud and itunes, photo backups, etc. will have taken care of everything. Otherwise I am at the point where my 5 gb is gone and I will be charged for going over the 5gb. I have never used that kind of data, I don't view videos, listen to music so this is frustrating. I gave up a dsl line with unlimited usage for this ATT 5 gb plan that I use for 2 weeks and go over my plan! Yikes.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

this is very interesting. I own a GS3 and we are suffering from the same issues as well as the Note 2 folks. The problem has been amplified ever since we all got the 4.1 update. i thought it was isolated to the samsung devices but now it seems that Att is actually having a major network issue on their high end branded phones. Someone high up really needs to take notice.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

I was finally sent to a repair center for a new phone, where the tech told me I could get a new phone but that the existing one I own could just have the software debugged and updated and it would be just fine. He knew exactly about the problem. I am getting a new phone instead, so we'll see where that takes us. Didn't know there was such a place until the 3rd ATT store I tried said I needed a new phone because they couldn't fix my problem either. If you reset your phone 3 times and there isn't a fix, you can get a new phone. I won't have the phone for another week, but will let you know if the same problem exists.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

Update, I reset my phone, turned off lacation services, and didn't turn my iPad on. When I checked usage later that day it showed I still used over 100,000 kb at one time after turning on. this is definitely an AT&T problem.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

Good grief. I wish I had found this thread before I embarked on this day. For me it started yesterday at 12:08 PM (found out in hindsight by looking at the data usage online). Recurring massive data usages ranging from about 100 MB to 700 MB at a pop. About every 30 minutes to an hour, including all night when the phone was not in use and all applications were closed. Never exceeded 280 MB in a MONTH since I joined ATT, then 5GB used in a 24 hour period.

Called and talked to a rep, she said I had to take phone in to store, drove 40 minutes to store in order to spend another hour on the phone with a rep. They had me re-boot (can't remember the term), and said we'll call you tomorrow and see if it's fixed. On the drive home another 500 MB used.

Called again and raised heck. They are sending me another phone, although after reading this thread, I do not think it's the phone. There are numerous threads out there in other forums about the same issue. My phone is Galaxy Skyrocked S2.

They also credited me $50. That was after demanding to speak to a manager. The rep apparently really did not want me to talk to a manager because he all of a sudden suggested the credit.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

So I received a replacement phone with new software and so far it is working. Try calling the At&T device support center in Portland at {Inappropriate content removed} and tell them your story. I hope they can help you like they did me.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

Update: First, I think there is a chance that there have been no more big data usages on my phone since it was re-set yesterday. There is a chance that I got delayed data usage info and did not interpret things correctly.

Second, I downloaded an app called My Data Manager that I read about on other threads while I was researching this problem. I normally do not download apps, but I now want to know exactly where my data is going (web, os services, gmail, android system...) in the event this problem happens again. It is a very straightforward app that tells you how much data you've used in the last hour, day, month on both for both wifi and mobile data. It also tells you "where" the data is being used.

This app also lets you set alarms. I set one for 100MB in a day. This way I will get a very early alert if the problem comes back, as opposed to finding out from an ATT text saying I've used 90% of my data allowance (5 GB) 3 days into the billing period, which is how I found out this time.

Third, I now have my wifi turned on for my phone, which I have never done in the past because I don't use much data on my phone and I was trying to maximize battery life. I work from home, most of the big data chunks went out while I was at home, so at least now if the problem starts again, it won't come from my data allowance and b/c of the alarm I've set I will know almost immediately.

The one thing I am unclear about is whether it's a phone problem or an ATT problem. They are sending me another phone (re-furb, not new) bc they said I could invoke the warranty. If the problem is NOT the phone, I would just as soon keep my old one bc there are other issues out there (phone shutting off in idle state) that my phone does not suffer from. I would hate to take the chance of new glitches if this glitch was not due to the phone to begin with.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

I too experienced the same spike in data usage. It all began after my October 1, 2016 payment notification via e-mail. Then on October 5, 2016 I received (2) two notifications from AT&T via e-mail that stated update on data use, then another notification that I have used 100% of my 300MB shared data, of which I can hardly believe I used 300MB in any billing period because I do not download or stream music or movies on my cell nor have I opened any new applications. I verified via my online AT&T Account to try to determine what may have caused this spike. No go, so I did use Chat, I visited with Tom however he was not able to provide any assistance. But Tom stated he would credit the $20.00 data usage overage fee to help. Now this is when it really gets un-nerving, between Wednesday, October 5th approximately at 6:00 pm and 3:15 pm on Thursday, October 6th, I have been charged (3) two more additional share data overage fees to my account, a total of $60.00. Tom suggested to I visit one of the AT&T locations for better assistance. I asked the door attendants if they have heard of the unusual spike of shared data usage – Well apparently they are not in tune with what is happening online because there are those like myself that have experienced the same issue.

As suggested by Tom, I did visit with Matt, store manager at the Galleria in Dallas, TX. Thursday, October 06, 2016 between (3:15 pm – 4:00 pm) Matt concurred with me that there seems to be an unknown and unexplainable reason for the sudden spike in data usage. Matt stated he will handle all overage fees once my account finishes the billing cycle October 12th. I hope I do not lose my current billing plan. Well Good Luck to All….

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

You should be looking at your phone. Only your phone shows actual data use, and by what system or application. Please open settings, data usage and scroll down to see use.

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Award for Community Excellence 2019 Achiever**The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Sudden increase in data usage

This is exactly what is happening to my iphone on AT&T. Only in October 2016, our data usage cannot be controlled. Calling AT&T they confirmed the phone is set correctly for wifi and wifi assist turned off. Another anomoly is the phone usage only accounts for 3.1 Gb of used data however logging into AT&T it shows 9.5 Gb of usage for that phone. They indicated it had to be a problem with the Apple device and referred me to them. Iphone 7